Method and apparatus for forming designs on fabrics



Jan. 13, l925. 1,522,653

J. sMoLERol-F METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING DESIGNS y0N FABRICS Fil June 28, 1924 2 MM 1M I, M A'rroRNEY Jani 13, 1925. v1,522,653

J. SMOLEROF F METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING DESIGNS 0N FABRICS Fiied Jgga 1924 2 sums-sheetv 2 /17 .79 *r ik 4 Patented Jan. 1.3, 1925.

PATENT oFFlcE.

JOSEPH SMOLEROFF,

0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD .AND AIPABATUS FO'R FORMING DESIGNS 0N FABRICS.

Application led .Tune 28, 1924:. Serial No. 722,906.

To all whom 'it may Umwern:

Be it known thatI, JosnrH SMoLnRoFF, a citizen of the United States, and resident -of New York, in the county of Bronx and ,State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods and ,Apparatus for Forming Designs on Fabrics, of which the following is a specication.

lThis invention relates to the art of form#` ing designs on fabrics by treating certain portions of the fabric and leaving other portions untreated so as to produce the desired effect.

In carrying out my-,invention I employ a stencil with the design cut therein 'so that portionsof the surface of the fabric may be exposed through the apertures of the stencil.

4In connection with the stencil I employ a second member which will act upon only those portions of the fabric which are exposed through the said apertures. In or der to secure high speed operation the stencil is preferably in the form of a hollow drum mounted for rotation and rhaving rolling contact with the sheet material as the latter advances.

l-In ord-er that such apparatus may be commercially practical and efficient in operation, it is important that themember which acts upon the portions of the Ifabric which are exposed through theapertures forming the design shall effectively and. uniformly act upon all of such exposed portions and shall not subject the inner surface of the drum to such friction as will cause heatand wear. In order to secure thisresult I provide as one important feature of my invent-ion a second rotating drum which will coact with the stencil drum to force portions of the fabric into or through the apertures in the stencil to such a distance that the surface of the fabric comes inside of the inner surface of the drum. Thus the fabric treating member Within the stencil drum ma rotate at an desired speed and may be o any of the fabric and thus form the design. The

fabric treating member might also be in the form of a. dye-carrying roller which Wouldthus come in contact with the exposed port-ions of the fabric but would not engage with the inner surface of the stencil drum.

In carrying out my invention I utilize the stencil drum as a female member and provide asecond drum or male member with the design thereon, but in the. form of raised portions. Thus as the two drums rotate the raised portions of the male member force the fabric 4through the apertures of the female member to the required dista-nce. By means of this, arrangement al1 wear or friction on the `inner surface of the stencil expensive method of forming the male die' member to properly correspond with the apertures Vof the stencil. I-The male member may be in the form of a drum and upon its outer surface there may be wrapped a pliirality of layers of paper glued together in succession to build up the drum to the desiredv increased thickness. By running this drum against the stencil drum the impression of the design may be transferred to the outer layer of paper on the other drum, and thereafter the desired number of layers of the paper may be cut away at all portions except those which register with the apertures of the stencil. In cutting awa)Y `projections may be made slightly smaller than the apertures of the drum, the amount being determined by the thickness of the fabric to betreated. The number of layers of paper which are cut away, in other 'the paper the inner layer or layers are per words, the height of each projection, will also depend upon the thickness of the fabric being treated.

As another feature of my invention the fabric treating member is -mount`ed eccen' trically in respect to the stencil drum so that the spacing between the drum and the fabric treating member will be at\the minimum along the approximate line of tangency of the two drums, and the remainderI of the outer surface of the fabric treating member will be spaced to a greater distance from the inner surface of the drum.

As a further feature of my invention I provide an improved means for supporting and rotating the hollow stencil drum and permitting of the removal and replacement of this drumwithout the removal of the fabric treating member disposed within said stencil drum.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated merely one form which my inven-- tion may assume, but it is obvious .that various changes may be made in the details of construction within the scope of my invention as defined in the appended? claims.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention, a portion of broken away.

Fig. 2 is an end view, a portion section, on the line 2 2 of Fig.` 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the upper part of the'opposite end of the apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the drums and fabric treating member.

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail of a portion of the lower drum showing the layers of paper thereon, but greatly enlarged as to thickness and Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, but with portions of the aper cut away to leave projections presenting the design.

In the`apparatus illustrated there are provided a air of drums 10 and 11 which areI moundeii) for rotation about parallel axes and in closely juxtaposed position for the passage of the fabric or other sheet of material therebetween.- One of the drums, for instance the up er drum 10, is formed of thin sheet meta with apertures 12 through the peripheral wall thereof, and of such positions, shapes and relationship as to form the required design. stencil inasmuch as the fabric passing between the two drums is exposed through these apertures to the action of a fabric treating member within the drum.

As one important feature of my invention the other drum 11 is so formed as to force portions of the fabric into or through the apertures of the stencil drum, whereby the the apparatus being being in in Fig. 7.

The drum acts as asurface of the fabric is exposed for action within the drum and inside of the circular plane of the inner surface of the peripheral wall. In order to accomplish this result the drum 11 has formed thereon the same design as thaton the drum L10, but the design is produced by projections 13 rather than the thickness of the wall of the drum 10 and.

the thickness of the materialy being treated.

As one simple way of forming the projections 13 on the drum 11 I may wrap on the latter a plurality of sheets 14 of paper with intermediate layers of glue or adhesive to build up an outer jacket or coatingvof slightly greater thickness than the desired heightof the projections. The two drums are. then run' together to impress on the outer paper layer the design formed by the apertures 12 of lthe drum 10. Certaln of the outer layers of paper are then cut away on all portions vof the lower drum which were not exposed through the apertures l,12, so as to leave the projection 13,' as shown It will of 'course beevident that in Figs. 6 and 7 the thickness of the paper layers and the height of the projections are very `greatly exaggerated to facilitate a clear understanding of the ymethod of construction. It will be noted that the inner paper layer is not cut away, but serves to connect all of the projections and hold them in place on the drum.

Inside of the stencil drum 1() I provide a rotatable member 15 for acting upon the portion of lthe fabric exposed through the apertures. The character of this fabric treating member will vary in accordance with the desired method of treatment. For instance if the design is to be formed by producing a nap on portions of the fabric and leaving other portions without nap, then the member 15 may be in the form of a high speed rotary brush vwhich will catch and loosen fibers of the exposed portion of the fabric, and thus roughen the surface or raise a nap. In the finished sheet there will be a very different light and shade effectlon the portions having the iiap as compared to those without this nap. Instead of roughing the surface I might in some cases use a fabric treating member which would serve to smooth the surface or remove nap.' This might be in the form of a high speed rot-ary grinding or cutting member which would remove the nap of all portions exposed through the apertures 12. In some cases I might employ as the fabric treating member a dye roller which .would color the exposed' portions of the fabric and thus form the design.

As one important feature,the fabric treating member is of materially smaller diameter than the stencil drum and is eccentrically Vso mounted so that Iit is spaced from the upper surface but comes closely adjacent to the Alower surface where the `fabric is exposed for treatment.

In the machine illustarted the stencil 'drum 10 is provided with hollow bearing members 16-16 at the ends1 thereof, one of 18 which are so constructed that they ma be opened up'and the stencil drum remove i referably these bearings are so arranged that it is not necessary t'o remove the fabric treating member 15, and the drum is removed by an endwise sliding movement. As shown the brush or other fabric treating member 15 is carried by a shaft 19 which is mounted in a pair of bearings 20 at the drive end of the machine, and in a bearing 21 at the opposite end of the machine. The bearings 18 for the drum are divided along the vertical plane of the axis of the drum, and the two parts of eachubearing are slidable horizontally toward and from each other to hold or release the bearing members 16,16*. At the drive end of the machine the bearings 20 for the shaft 19 are mounted on the end frame 22 so'that they are not disturbed by opening the bearing 18 for the member 16. At the opposite end of the machine the bearing 21 for the shaft 19 is carried. by a pair of brackets 23 which are separately secured to the `two halves of the bearing 18. Thus upon separating the two members of the bearing 18 at this end of the machine, the bearing block 2l is liberated. Thus the stencil drum may be moved endwise out of the machine while leaving the brush 15 in Place, and with'its shaft supportedv atione end by the two spaced bearings 20.

lor rotating` the drum and the brush, power may be taken from any suitable source, as for instance the electric motor 24 which may have its shaft 25 directly connected to the shaft 19 through a pair 'o1' sprocket wheels and a sleiit chain 26. The lower drum 11, may be provided with a gear 27 meshing with the gear 17 of the upper drum, and also meshing with a pinion 28 on a stub shaft carrying a gear 29. This gear 29 may mesh with a pinion 30 on another stub shaft which also lcarries a larger sprocket for a silent chain 31 takingpowei from the motor shaft 25. Thus the brush will. be rotated at very much higher speed than the two drums, and the latter will be rotated at the same speed. Any other suitable drive mechanism might be employed for giving to the rotating members the desired speed. i

The same frame which carries theopcrating parts may also serve to carry the deliv ery and receiving spindles for the fabric being treated. As shown the frame at one side carries the roll A of fabric B which passes over a guide 32, thence between the two drums, then over a guide 33 to a receiving drum C. The latter may be rotated through a belt 34 from the shaft of the drum 11, but the drive would be such that there may be sufficient slippage to wind up the material without putting too high -a tension thereon, and without causing a rate of travel of the material different from that of the surface speed of the drums 10 and 11.

Obviously there will be greater slippage as the roll C increases in diameter.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is v1. The method of forming designs on a fabric, which consists in forcing portions of the fabric through apertures in Ia stencil', and brushing said portions to form a nap thereon. l

2. In combination, a hollow stencil roller, a second roller having projections on the periphery thereof and` correspondingto the aperturesof the stencil whereby said projections force portions of a sheet into said apertures as the sheet is passed between the rollers in rotating meshing relationship, and means within the stencil roller for `acting upon said portions of the sheet.

3. In combination, `a hollow roller having apertures through lthe peripheral wall, a second roller having projections on the periphery thereof and corresponding in size and location to said apertures, means for rotating said rollers wit the projections and 'apertures in meshing relationship whereby portions of a sheet passing between said rollers are forced into said apertures, and means within said first mentioned roller for acting upon said portions.

4. A construction as defined in claim 3in which the last mentioned means is mounted out of Contact with the inner-surface of the roller.

5. A construction as defined in claim 3, in which the last mentioned means is mounted for high speed rotation.

6. A construction as defined in claim` 3, in which the last mentioned means is eccentrically mounted within the first mentioned roller and is provided with means for rotating at a higher peripheral speed than the first mentioned roller.

7 In combination, a hollow stencil drum, a second drinn having projections on the periphery thereof corresponding in size and location to the apertures of the stencil drum, means for rotating said drums with the projections and apertures in meshing relationship. a brush eccentrically mounted within the stencil drum, and means for rotating said drum at high speed in contact with portions of material forced through the apertures by said projections'lbut outzofcontact with.v the inner surface of the stencil member therein.

9.111 combination, aQhollow sheet metal stencil drum, a pair of hollow bearing members secured to opposite ends thereof, one of said bearing members being provided with a gear, and a pair of bearings forsaid bearing members, each formed of two sec-l tions, saidl sections being adjustable toward and from each other and meeting in the vertical yplane of the axis of the drum.

10.- In combination, a hollow sheet metal stencil drum, a pair of hollow bearing members secured to opposite ends thereof, one

Aof said bearing members being provided with a gear, a pair of bearings for said bearing members, each formed of two sections, said sections ,beingl adjustable toward and from each other and meeting in thevertical plane of the axis of the drum, a rotary member within said drum, bearings at one -end thereof and mounted vindependently of the bearings for the drum, and

bearings at the other end of said member and' including two sections carried5 by the corresponding section of the bearing of the drum at said end.

Signed 4at New York in the county of New York and State of New York, this 26th yday of June A. D. 1924.

JOSEPH sMoLERoFF. 

